In this blog post, this one simple rule to finding your true purpose in life, will help you understand how to live a more fulfilled life. You will identify your passions that can be monetized and turn into a sustainable business by using the Japanese concept, Ikigai. In sharing with you my success tips and one simple rule to finding your true purpose, you can live a more fulfilled life while impacting others.

Some of the most important questions you can ever ask yourself on your journey through life are questions such as:

• “Why am I here?”,
• “What do I really want?” ,
• “Where do I want to be?”,
• “When I achieve my goals, what would it look like?”,
• “How will I get to where I want to be?”,
• “Who will I have to become to live a life with purpose?”

Some Success Tips for finding your true purpose

The most successful people are invariably those people who are spending the most time thinking about who they are and where they are going.

A consistent self awareness and a journey of evaluation about what you really want contributes to reaching your success goals.

The starting point of great success, in business and in general, is realizing that you are truly unique, extraordinary and different than anyone in the entire universe.

You do have remarkable abilities, skills, aptitudes, insights & ideas that contributes to your indifference. In some way, you are superior to all other people who have ever lived. Inside of you, you have the capacity to accomplish way more than you have ever dreamed of in the past.

You are engineered and designed to live a life filled with purpose, meaning and fulfillment.

The great tragedy is that most people go through life and die with their music still inside them.

They react and respond to:

• pressures and events,
• parents,
• bosses,
• bills and responsibilities

without ever taking the time to sit down and think about what it is that they really want for themselves.

I am a strong believer in purpose.

So it will not come as a surprise when I tell you that you were put on this earth for a reason. To do something wonderful, extraordinary with your life. But it is YOUR job to find out what that wonderful thing is and then find a way to doing it extremely well.

You even might only have a single purpose, like that of Mother Theresa of Calcutta, or your life may have multiple, sequential purposes. As you evolve, grow and develop into the best version of yourself, you will discover more things that leads you to living with purpose.

Using questions and prompts can help you finding your true purpose in life.

The ONE simple RULE to finding your true purpose

In any case, the one common characteristic of the most successful men and women is having clarity.

Having an absolutely clear understanding about what they stand for, believe in and how they will get where they are going are great attributes of success.

Let’s start at the beginning.

What is your heart’s desire?

To define your heart’s desire, you need to find what you believe you were put on this earth to do.

That something special inside of you that is unique and can only be done in the way you do it. Your job throughout life is to discover your true heart’s desire. Only then will you live a fulfilled life, reach complete success and like most say, find your “sweet spot” in whatever you do.

So, what is yours?

• Is it a passion to help others?
• Even a longing to write novels?
• Or teaching others how to bake bread?

The One simple rule to find your true purpose : Find Your IKIGAI

It does not matter how stupid, how unimportant or needless it sounds, you have a drive inside you to reach full potential. Finding purpose in life is one of the most fundamental human needs. By our very nature, we seek meaning and validation of our place in life.

Feeling like your life makes sense, feeling you have direction and that you are motivated by valued goals and feeling that your existence is significant (George & Park, 2016) is how we debate the meaning of life.

Thorough research proves that a high sense of purpose is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause morality, higher daily positive affect, lower daily negative affect and improved longevity across diverse cultures, genders and age groups (Cohen, Bavishi & Rozanski, 2016).

In Japanese culture, to find meaning and purpose in life is to find one’s ikigai (ee-key-guy).

Even though no definitive translation exists, ikigai, which is a combination of the Japanese words ikiru, meaning “to live”, and kai, meaning”the realization of what one hopes for”, can be understood as a reason for being, or that which makes life worth living.

Research suggests that having ikigai facilitates the integration of stressful psychological events from the past, present, and future with less conflict or confusion. (Ishida & Okada, 2011)

Further, ikigai has been shown to influence immune function and increase life expectancy (Hui & Fung, 2009), reduce anxiety and improve resilience (Ishida, 2008), act as an intermediary between flow experience and sense of coherence (Iida & Oguma, 2013) and enhance self-esteem and acceptance of adversity (Kamiya, 2004), amongst many other favorable outcomes.

Having ikigai means that each day is infused with meaning and reflects not only psychological factors, such as wellbeing, hopes and dreams but also an individual’s consciousness of their motivation for a living (Sone et al., 2008)

Your discovery of your own ikigai is attainable with:

• Patience
• Commitment
• Introspective exploration

The Four Ingredients of Ikigai

While this concept is personal and specific to individual self discovery, ikigai is consistently found at the convergence of four fundamental elements (Garcia, Miralles, & Cleary, 2017), namely:

• Passion (What you love)
• Mission (What the world needs)
• Vocation (What you are good at)
• Profession (What you can get paid for)

The goal with this tool, is to help you use the one rule to finding your purpose and meaning in your live.

By engaging in the Japanese practice of ikigai, you can explore and connect with what is most meaningful by discovering the point at which your passions and talents converge with what others need and are willing to pay for.

How to use the Ikigai Chart

Use these steps to help you complete your own ikigai chart:

• Finding one’s ikigai requires a commitment to action
• Determine what it is you value most – it is not likely to be discovered overnight
• Your ikigai is something that will unfold over time and changes as various aspects of your own life changes
• In other words, finding your ikigai is about lifelong self-reflection and experimentation
• Carefully consider each of the four circles and allow yourself time to respond to each question
• Answer as honestly as possible and writing down whatever comes to mind at the moment
• Use prompts to help you answer each question
• You can use your answers as a source of inspiration
• There is value to be found in any overlapping response
• Overlapping answers will provide clarity on other aspects of your life and therefore, lead you closer to discovering your ikigai
• Focus on active actions and activities that manifest in observable outcomes. For instance, activities such as painting or gardening should be prioritized over passively watching television
• You might identify more than one ikigai and discovering that your ikigai may change as your circumstances change.
• Revisit this exercise regularly as well as every time you feel a sense of misalignment between your values and your actions

The secret to a long and happy life is to live with purpose every day.

Living a life with meaning and value can make you happier, more content, more resilient through hard times and more likely to influence the lives of others.

You can find meaning from many different sources, such as:

• Relationships
• Work
• Religion
• Hobbies
• Your Job/Career

What gives you a sense of meaning or purpose in life?

There you have it! My ONE simple rule to finding your true purpose in life.

You now have a tool to start working on those hearts’ desires so you too can find your ikigai and start living a purpose-driven life!

Wondering how to use this one simple rule to turn your purpose into profits?

I show you how to find your purpose (ikigai), sweet spot, calling or “Zone of Genius” and also how to turn that into a monetized solution so you can even make money from living a fulfilled, purpose driven life.

I created a mini-course to help you find your Zone of Genius (ikigai) & monetize it inside the B.O.S.S Society, a business membership created for creatives, coaches and educators.

JOIN today to start finding your true purpose, turn it into profits and live a life of fulfillment!

I truly hope you will take this time, invest in yourself and truly live a life of impact!

To your succes!

In this Blog post, we look at the 8 benefits of coaching for entrepreneurs.

Let us define the term Coaching before we look at the benefits of Coaching:

  “Coaching is the act of giving special classes in sports, a school object, or a work-related activity, especially to one person or a small group.”

– According to the Cambridge Dictionary –

According to Google coaching has many definitions – but the definition that really speaks to me is the one found in Wikipedia

Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a coach, supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance

wikipedia

Because of this definition, I strongly believe that EVERY person can benefit from Coaching.

But to be specific, let’s focus on Entrepreneurs who are business owners and driven to reach their goals.

Let’s dive deeper into the 8 Benefits of Coaching for entrepreneurs…

How can entrepreneurs benefit from coaching?

Coaching is an informal relationship between two people. One has more experience and expertise than the other, and offers advice and guidance as the latter learns. Coaching differs from mentoring by focusing on specific tasks or objectives, as opposed to more general goals or overall development.

In my blog post, Key differences between Coaching and Mentoring, we dive deeper into each definition and the benefits of each type of service.

As an Entrepreneur, managing your own business and wanting to do things smarter, you will definitely benefit from any type of Coaching.

8 BENEFITS OF COACHING

1. IMPROVEMENT of your self-confidence and relationships
2. CLARITY on your wishes and goals you would like to reach in your life, business, or projects
3. DEVELOPING the ability to create new solutions and new ideas
4. INCREASING your productivity to improve your work-life balance
5. ACTIONABLE steps to changes create personal development
6. RENEWING your perspectives and insights into yourself
7. BECOMING more accountable get results faster
8. LEARNING how to take advantage of your strengths and resources so it will bring you closer to reaching your goals

The benefits of coaching alone should empower you to choose to hire a coach, but I know not everyone understands how these benefits could make an impact in their lives.

So let’s look at the reasons why you should consider hiring a coach:

10 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE A COACH

1. If you want to achieve your goals and be successful but you do not know HOW to do it
2. Are you struggling and lacking the self-confidence to do things that move you out of your comfort zones?
3. Do you feel constantly stressed and are going through big transitions in your life, career, or business?
4. Or you want to understand yourself better and identify blind spots that can help foster greater relationships?
5. Perhaps you want to make better use of your time, resources, and abilities?
6. Maybe you want honest feedback and new perspectives?
7. When you want to reach your full potential
8. Definitely when you want to make more money or take the next step in your business or career
9. Consider it when you want to boost your overall thinking, mindset, and well-being
10. You want to be better and do things easier, differently and make an impact

As with many things in life, not one single type of Coach will bring you all these results.

There are many different types of Coaches and we all could benefit from at least one type of Coach once in our lives.

While the focus behind coaching differs, all coaching is typically reflective rather than directive in a manner.

The Business Coaching category for entrepreneurs includes:

• Executive Coaching
  • Enhancing performance
  • Taking talents and abilities to a new level
  • Helping someone to adjust to new situations or a transition
  • Reflect and develop a personal awareness of their strengths and work on weaknesses
• Career Coaching
  • Skills assessments
  • Understanding the job market
  • Understanding organizational processes
  • Identifying opportunities and career-based roles and how they are good fits
  • Developing career transition plans
  • Helping understand the world of work and their own personal development
  • Enhancing employ-ability
• Skills Coaching
  • Identifying and refining career goals
  • Flagging objectives within existing roles
  • Recognizing personal and career development needs
  • Up-skill to enable better performance linked to achieving specific tasks
  • Achieving both individual and company objectives

Relationship Coaching focuses on everything from:

• Communication
  • Questioning Assumptions
  • Conflict resolutions
  • Effective communication techniques
• Stress Management
  • Identifying behavioral patterns & triggers
  • Setting clear and healthy boundaries
• Emotional Wellness
  • Uncovering new listening mechanisms
  • Assisting with ways to better express feelings and views

Life Coaching focuses on:

• Personal outcomes
  • Explore what you want in life
  • Define attainable dreams and aspirations
  • Find answers and ways to achieve their goals
  • Highlight and understand their own potential, skills and talents

SOURCE: https://www.sacap.edu.za/blog/management-leadership/types-of-coaching/

If you need further advice on how these benefits of Coaching can help you to take the next step, or you need a helping hand to show you how to achieve your end goals, do reach out to me for ways how I can help you move forward.

You are also INVITED to join my FREE Facebook Group, PROFITABLE ONLINE CREATIVES, for a community of Entrepreneurs and Business Owners to help, support, and empower each other!

See you online!

In this blog post, I share how business coaching help your business grow.

After reading this post, I hope you will have more clarity about the key differences between:

• Teaching,
• Coaching,
• Mentoring, and
• Counselling.

This will help you understand how to choose the best solution to reach your business goals.

You will also be able to identify the 8 Benefits of Business Coaching. To clarify the reasons why you should invest in a Business Coach.

In coaching, the coach is helping the individual to improve their personal development and performance.

How can Business Coaching help your business grow?

Whether you are a novice, experienced or established entrepreneur, a business coach will assist and guide you.

Business Coaching is a valuable resource used to helping entrepreneurs to clarify their vision. Clarity on their business vision helps align their passions and purpose with all their business goals.

The main aim of Business coaching is to improve performances and focuses in the present rather on the distant future. To truly understand and define Business Coaching, we need to first understand coaching.

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”

John Whitmore

Let’s go back 26 years.

Many of us, at one point or another, experienced the resistance to learning. For me, it was mostly the 5 years of High School. The root behind my resistance was mainly my inner voice. I just never believed that I could be good at learning something and excel in it.

This was part of a real self-sabotage thinking way. Only in my late thirties I discovered the true power of knowledge. To learn a new skill or improve a skill, it’s much easier to find a teacher than to teach yourself.

As a solo entrepreneur, I never really invested in any type of coaching. I paid for many self-development courses, but I soon realized that great coaches are a much quicker route to success. I can confidently say, investing money into coaches are priceless.

There are various models of coaching besides business coaching. The key element is considering the coach as a facilitator of learning rather than as an expert.

What is the difference between Business Coaching and Mentoring for your business?

If your business is struggling, a business coach is one of the most effective options to invest in.

Business coaches serve as both trainers and mentors.

Timothy Gallwey and his insights into “the inner game” revolutionized thinking about coaching.

In his book, The Inner Game of Tennis, he suggested that the biggest obstacles to success and achieving potential were internal, not external.

His insight was that coaches help individuals to improve their game by distracting them from their inner dialogue and the critical voice that said “Not like that!”

Gallwey’s real insight was that this didn’t just apply to tennis, but that individuals generally have the answers to their problems within themselves.

The essential part of coaching is to help people learn to silence that inner voice and allow instincts or their subconscious to take over. Sometimes that means distracting it, sometimes it’s about exploring the “worst-case scenario” and removing any fear.

Coaches identify the stage at which an individual is at and use the right sort of language to help them move to the next stage. After all, it’s difficult to try to improve a skill if you don’t know that you lack it.

Many coaches will recognize the significant overlap between their role and that of a teacher.

Much like any other type of coach, business coaches align your talents, goals, purpose and visions so your overall business efforts are successful.

Here is a summary of 3 different “learning methods” to see how Business Coaching can help your business:

All these learning methods have key characteristics and is important in their own way.

Teaching and Training

Teaching and training involve an expert teacher who imparts knowledge to their students. Although the best teachers will use participation and interactive techniques, like coaching, there is very definitely an imbalance of knowledge, with the teacher as expert knowing the ‘right answer’.

Coaching

Coaching involves the belief that the individual has the answers to their own problems within them. The coach is not a subject expert, but rather is focused on helping the individual to unlock their own potential. The focus is very much on the individual and what is inside their head. A coach is not necessarily a designated individual: anyone can take a coaching approach with others, whether peers, subordinates, or superiors.

Mentoring

Mentoring is similar to coaching. There is a general agreement that a mentor is a guide who helps someone to learn or develop faster than they might do alone. In the workplace mentors are often formally designated as such by mutual agreement, and outside of an individual’s line management chain. They usually have considerable experience and expertise in the individual’s line of business. A mentoring relationship usually focuses on the future, career development, and broadening an individual’s horizons, unlike coaching which tends to focus more on the here and now and solving immediate problems or issues.

Counselling

Counselling is closer to a therapeutic intervention. It focuses on the past, helping the individual to overcome barriers and issues from their past and move on. Here, the focus may be either internal or external.

My conclusion

The term “coaching” means many different things to different people, but it is generally about helping individuals to solve their problems and improve their performances.

It doesn’t matter whether coaching is used in sport, life or business, the good coach believes that individuals always have the answer to their own problems. They just need help to unlock them.

Business coaches are typically expert entrepreneurs who know what it takes to make a business successful. Much like any other coach, business coaches work to refine your talents, hone your goals, guide your decisions, and do everything else that they can do to ensure that you and your business are successful.

Business coaches start by learning everything that they can about your brand, from its value propositions to its target customers to the challenges it will face and beyond.

Next, a business coach will work with you to set beneficial and attainable goals for your team. These goals will be ones that you need to hit to efficiently grow and achieve the vision you lay out.

Throughout this entire process, business coaches serve as an invaluable source of personalized information and advice.

I like to refer to Business Coaches as your flashlight towards thriving.

Here are 10 Benefits of Business Coaching to help your business:

• Improve your self-confidence
• Elevate your relationships
• Gain clarity on your dreams, desires, and goals
• Develop a growth mindset to find better solutions
• Create new ideas, perspectives, and habits
• Enhance your work-life balance and increase your overall productivity
• Helps you to take actionable steps to create real changes
• Find new insights and become self-aware
• Become more accountable and get real results faster
• Learn how to take advantage of your strengths and resources

Business coaches can also help you to build a new business from the ground up, advising you as they go through the process of setting up your business. Defining your mission and goals, and putting in place both long-term and short-term strategies for your business.

Likewise, a business coach can help you in growing your empire as they figure out how to take your business to the next level. Along with improving the operation and growth of your business, though, such coaches are also able to ease some of the burdens you experience and will help to make your journey easier and more enjoyable.

When should you consider investing in a Business Coach to help your business?

• Ready to achieve your goals and be more successful
• When You’re struggling and lacking self-confidence
• Feeling stressed or you’re going through a big transition
• Trying to understand yourself better and identify blind spots
• Want to make better use of your time, resources, and abilities
• Need honest feedback and new perspectives
• You want to reach your full potential
• Taking the next steps and ready to make an impact by leaving a legacy
• Boost your overall well being, live a purpose driven life and reach your freedom goals

Overall, in 2018 I decided to invest in a Business Coach to help me live my best life!

And since then, I also invested in becoming a business coach to other entrepreneurs.

Business coaches are typically experienced entrepreneurs and business owners themselves who decide to use their talents for building and growing a business to help other business owners reach their goals.

This just seemed to be the natural next step for me.

For a fee, a business coach work alongside executives and entrepreneurs to help them define their goals, polish their vision for their business, and set in place a series of strategies that will help them achieve their goals and live a purpose driven life.

While running your own business can be very rewarding, there’s no denying that it can be very demanding and stressful as well. This is doubly true if you are running an entire company all on your own. I know, I have been doing this for more than 16 years now.

So, when you are ready and do decide to work with a business coach, you will have someone in your corner who assists you through challenges and serve you with experience and expertise you can rely on.

In this way, business coaches make the lives of entrepreneurs much less stressful, which is a priceless benefit in and of itself.

Common Business Coaching Questions

If you are considering hiring a coach, you might have a lot of questions. While we’ve already covered many of these questions such as what business coaches do and how they can be of help to you and your business, here are a few more frequently asked questions to help you:

Q: What is the first meeting with a business coach like?

A: When you first meet with your business coach, the number one priority is going to be for the coach to learn more about you and your business so that they can specifically tailor their advice to help you. You can expect a friendly encounter and an enjoyable discussion about your business that will eventually transform into your business coach offering you specialized advice about the goals that you should set for your business and how you should go about meeting those goals.

Q: Can business coaches help me grow my business?

A: Business coaches can certainly help you put strategies in place to grow your business if that is your goal. However, growing companies is not the only service that business coaching provides. Such coaches also work to help make you more productive, make your job and running your business easier, and help you achieve all aspects of your vision for your company, including but not limited to its growth.

Q: Can my small online businesses benefit from business coaching?

A: Small online businesses are certainly able to benefit from business coaching, perhaps even more so than large corporations.

The issue is that many small business owners are not able to afford or access top-quality coaching. This is why I help 5 entrepreneurs for one month, or 20 hours, for $1. I designed this $1 Business Coaching to be a program that is affordable and accessible to all types of entrepreneurs.

Since working with many heart-centered entrepreneurs, I came to the revelation that people who pay, pay attention. During my journey as entrepreneur, I received many “coaching” & “mentoring” sessions for free, but I never took my homework serious and implemented what I learned until I started paying for coaching.

If you could partner with someone that can help you to build a profitable online business, grow it into a successful empire and help you live your best life, would you invest in such a partnership?

You are welcome to apply for the $1 Business Coaching program that might just be the breakthrough you are looking for!

If you need further advice on how a Coach could benefit you, or how to take the next step, or if you just need a helping hand to show you how to move forward, do reach out to me for a FREE discovery session.

You are also INVITED to join my FREE Facebook Group, PROFITABLE ONLINE CREATIVES, for a community of Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners to help, support, and empower each other!

See you online!

Entrepreneurs and business owners need to understand the functions of a Tax Consultant and a Registered Tax Practitioner. As an entrepreneur, running your own business and keeping your business tax compliant is a daunting task.

Basic functions of a Tax Consultant (or registered Tax Practitioner) for South African Entrepreneurs:

• A Tax Consultant specializes in understanding how to interpret various taxation laws for Small Businesses
• They also advises Small Business Owners on solutions to help their Small Business manage their tax affairs efficiently
• A Registered Tax Practitioner is qualified as a Tax expert and acts as a representative.

The expert knowledge, experience, and qualification the Tax Consultant holds determines the successful management of tax affairs in a business.

So how do you know you need a Tax Consultant or a registered Tax Practitioner?

The Tax Consultant or Tax Practitioner you need is the one who:

• will meet your business aspirations the best

To understand who this person is, you must first understand your key problem areas.

Your business accountant can mainly keep you compliant by filing your Business Tax Returns.

Your business requires a tax expert when you want to save on paying Company taxes.

Structuring certain assets, and planning for future investments, also requires a Tax expert.

Tax Consultants are experts that helps your Company saves on taxes. Tax Practitioners are generally registered with SAIT.

An expert Tax Consultant or registered Tax Practitioner usually works on a contractual basis and depending on your

• specific requirements,
• the intensity of the specialties, and
• the urgency of matters,

your expert Tax Consultant can become very expensive.

Tax Consultants has vast specialties.

Let’s look at a few specialties:

• Dealing with various Tax Audits,
• Finalizing Audit Verification’s, or
• Dealing with VAT Reviews to
• Handling legal taxation matters, fairly and meticulously.

Registered Tax Practitioners pride themselves on understanding the Tax Administration Act. They can legally assist your Business in keeping compliant and stay clear of unwanted penalties and interests.

Outsourcing taxation compliance to an expert such as a Tax Consultant or registered Tax Practitioner, gives you peace of mind. Such an expert knows and understands taxation regulations and also understands how to legally protect your Business.

Here are ways a Tax Consultant or registered Tax Practitioner can help you:

• By Managing your Business e-filing tax profiles such as CIT, VAT, EMP
• By updating your Business records on e-filing (RAV01)
• Managing Individual e-filing profiles for IT and VAT
• Applying for Tax Clearance Certificates
• Dealing with SARS correspondence
• Submit Supporting Documents for Audits, Verifications or Reviews

Registering an e-filing profile for both your Business and individual taxes, helps managing your tax affairs efficiently online.

You can visit here to register for such a profile should you not have one already.

E-filing is not a complicated process, but various problems often arise where

• correspondence issued by SARS,
• documents requested or
• verification audits require certain specific actions and
• the taxpayer does not understand how to respond or how to communicate effectively with SARS.

A Tax Consultant or Tax Practitioner can manage multiple correspondences. This ensures responses reach SARS within the time frames allowed according to the Tax Administration Act.

History Tax Returns and Assessments followed by Statement of Accounts can become a huge headache to manage. For someone with limited knowledge about The Tax Administration Act, this is daunting.

For a minimal monthly tax management fee, a Tax Consultant can keep your business compliant. Managing these monthly and sometimes weekly tasks efficiently by the help of a Tax Consultant eases many burdens.

Dealing with SARS often causes unnecessary pains and anxiety for Small Business Owners.

As a registered Tax Practitioner with SARS since 2006, I completely understand the pains and challenges you face. Your tax affairs are in good hands when you trust a Tax Consultant or a registered Tax Practitioner!

Reach out to me if you are ready to get the help of a Registered Tax Practitioner for your business.

You are also invited to join my FREE Facebook Group, PROFITABLE ONLINE CREATIVES, for a community of Entrepreneurs and Business Owners to help, support, and empower each other.

See you online!

This post is a Multi-Step Approach to Creating a Budget for entrepreneurs, business owners and side-hustlers.

I recently explained the reason WHY you need a Budget for your Business and also for your Personal & Household expense tracking.

You can read that Blog Post here.

Before you start with creating a budget, download a basic budget worksheet and then follow the below steps.

You can follow this multi-step approach to ensure you gather all the documentation you require before you create your budget.

Multi-Step Approach to Creating a Budget:

1. Gather all personal financial & bank statements including:

• Bank statements
• Investment accounts
• Recent utility bills
• Credit card bills
• Receipts from the last three months
• Mortgage or auto loan statements

You want to have access to any information about your income and expenses.
One of the keys to the budget-making process is to create a monthly average.
The more information you can find and gather, the better.

2. List all your Income Sources by Calculating your total Income from all resources

How much income can you expect each month?

• If your income is in the form of a regular paycheck where taxes are automatically deducted, then using the net income (or take-home pay) amount is more accurate.
• If you are self-employed or
• have outside sources of income, such as
• child support, include these as well.

Record this total income as a monthly amount.

3. Group all your monthly expenses

Write down a list of all the expenses you expect to have during a month.

This list could include:

• Mortgage payments or rent
• Car payments
• Insurance
• Groceries
• Utilities
• Entertainment
• Personal care
• Eating out
• Childcare
• Transportation costs
• Travel
• Repairs & Maintenance
• Loans
• Savings (goals)

Use your bank statements, receipts, and credit card statements from the last three months to identify all your spending.

4. Determine your fixed monthly expenses

Fixed expenses are those mandatory expenses that you pay the same amount for each time.

Include items such as:

• Mortgage/Bond or rent payments,
• Car payments,
• Set-fee internet service,
• Utilities, and
• Regular childcare

If you pay a standard credit card payment, include that amount and any other essential spending that tends to stay the same from month to month.

If you plan to save a fixed amount or pay off a certain amount of debt each month, also include savings and debt repayment as fixed expenses.

5. Categorize all your variable monthly expenses

Variable expenses are the type that will change from month to month, such as:

• Groceries
• Fuel
• Entertainment
• Eating out
• Advertising
• Pay-as-you-go data charges
• Bank Charges/fees
• Wages
• Stationery & Printing

TIP: If you don’t have an emergency fund, include a category for “surprise expenses” that might pop up over the month and derail your budget.

6. Predict and list any unexpected expenses

Start assigning a spending value to each category, beginning with your fixed expenses.
Then, estimate how much you’ll need to spend per month on variable expenses.

If you’re not sure how much you spend in each category, review your last two or three months of credit card or bank transactions to make a rough estimate

7. Total Your Monthly Income and Expenses

If your income is higher than your expenses, you are off to a good start.
This extra money means you can put funds towards areas of your budget, such as

• retirement savings or
• paying off debt.

TIP: If you have more income than expenses,consider adopting the “50-30-20” budgeting philosophy.

In a 50-30-20 budget,”needs,” or essential expenses, should represent half of your budget, wants should make up another 30%, and savings and debt repayment should make up the final 20% of your budget.

If your expenses are more than your income, that means you are overspending and need to make some changes.

8. Make Adjustments to Expenses

If you’re in a situation where expenses are higher than income, find areas in your variable expenses you can cut.

Look for places you can reduce your spending—like

• eating out less or
• eliminate a category
• like canceling certain memberships

If your expenses are far above your income, or you have significant debt, reducing your variable expenses may not be enough. You may need to trim your fixed expenses and increase your income to balance your budget.

Aim to have your income and expense columns to be equal.
This equal balance means all of your income is accounted for and budgeted toward a specific expense or savings goal.

9. Budgeting Tips

Once you have set up a basic budget, customize it according to your financial situation and profit goals.

Working on commission, you should be aggressive in saving to help cover periods when the market is slow.

When you have cash flow issues because you are paid only once a month, divide that payment by weeks, and keep the cash you planned to spend in the remaining weeks in a separate account until you need it.

Pay with a credit card only if you will be able to pay it off at the end of the month. Otherwise, you will owe interest on top of the price of whatever you bought.

Adjust your budget monthly if you find you overestimated or underestimated your expenses.

Keep an eye on large expenses that only occur every few months, such as repairs-&-maintenance payments.

If you tend to overspend in certain categories, use budgeting hacks such as switching to a cash-only budget.

Once your expenses are lower than your income, budget towards savings goals before you increase your spending. Take time to learn other financial management skills to improve your financial literacy and make your money work harder for you.

I share more about creating a business budget or financial freedom checkpoints inside my business membership. You are welcome to join my business membership, the B.O.S.S Society, where I teach all the ways you can start a successful online business, implement effective income strategies and learn how to build profitable funnels.

I also created a 6-Step Framework to help you create a game plan for your business.

See you online!

Basic budgeting tips can help entrepreneurs to set their business up for success.

Budgets and a sound money mindset not only contributes to the success of a business but also gives power back into the hands of business owners.

Knowing your numbers and being able to predict your profits brings clarity, control and confidence. It enables us to make better informed decisions and empowers us to reach our profit goals.

Good money habits starts with the basics of managing your finances.

Take note of these 5 Money Habits to help you start right now:

Part of the foundational knowledge every entrepreneur should have is to know how to BUDGET and to PREDICTING profits.

Fortunately, as an Accountant and Business Building Strategist, this comes naturally for me. Even since I was in high-school, I grasped the importance of managing money.

I know it all started with my mothers’ influence…

My mother was our finance minister in the house.

She taught me the value of money and how to budget for real-life expenses, not intentionally though.
Yes, I did learn money matters, financial strategies, and cash flow forecasting in order to graduate, but nothing replaces the actual real-life experiences we encounter when our cash no longer covers all our expenses.

After my parents’ divorce, I moved into a 2 bedroom flat with my mom.

She barely survived and struggled to provide for herself let alone for a teenager who had to eat more than she sleeps…

Soon I realized that my mother is in much despair and finances was really tight.
Her simple principle is still today very fresh in my memory, so much so, that I am able to teach her principles to my children as well!

• She sat me down,
• took a piece of paper and a pencil, and
• summarised all her income on one side and all her expenses on the other side.
  She then asked me to match the expenses with her income

Soon I discovered the total amount of expenses far exceeded her income.
She then asked me to decide which expenses are the most important…
With only a small amount left to buy groceries, she then took me to the grocery store and into each food aisle, she explained, in lament terms, how much an item really costs.

Determining the weight of a product, the size, the amount, and then the price per weight/size/amount truly revealed if an item that is “marked down” or on “sale” is actually more expensive or if it is genuinely a bargain.

Because in general, we miss looking at these basic indicators and are influenced by the emotional manipulation of marketing tactics.

I never knew I could learn so much from a grocery-store aisle!

I still practice this principle today when buying my groceries

With her simple approach, I was fascinated and I had a desire to understand how money can be managed better, so I could get more out of it.

I grew up with a scarcity mindset and because of many money mindset issues, I mismanaged money in my young adult years. Soon after earning my own income, I fell into terrible debt traps, and also made silly buying decisions because of impulsive behaviors due to emotional needs. Most of all, because I never really took the time to look at my facts.

I made many mistakes, and I probably still make them, but I also came very far.

In the past 10 yeas, I learned better ways and the importance of practicing better money habits.

I want to help entrepreneurs not to make the same mistakes I made.

So, let’s look at basic budgeting tips to help you live a life of freedom.

NOTE: Basic Budgeting Tips for entrepreneurs starts by drafting a detailed budget.

Drafting a Budget could also bring lots of emotions to the table, like

• Fear,
• anxiety and
• guilt

are the most common emotions some entrepreneurs and business owners also struggle with is

• selfishness,
• greed, and
• a need for better, more…

Having all these emotions can really make you want to hide away from facing your facts.

A scarcity mindset won’t help you either! Avoiding something as important as your finances is not only an avenue down to disaster but also causes all these emotions to escalate into further traps.

Eventually, we all come to a point where we just have to face our giants, conquer our fears, and take the unspoken risks.

Talking about money is never easy.

Planning to have more money is much easier than taking the action to do it.

I have learned more through my own real-life experiences, mistakes, failures, and fears than any MBA course can ever teach me.

Hopefully, I can help you also to UNDERSTAND

• HOW
• WHY and
• WHEN

you need a budget so you too can find peace & clarity in managing your finances.

Here are some tips and guidelines to help you get started:

Budgeting Basics

A budget is an action plan to really UNDERSTANDING

• how much money you have,
• where it goes, and
• planning on how to spend and save it best

A budget is not only for people who struggle with their day-to-day financial planning, even if your finances are in good order, you still require a budget.

A good budget keeps track of

• your habits,
• spending tendencies,
• reveal your priorities,
• reveal hidden cash flow problems, and
• might even free up some money you can allocate to reaching your goals

Create a Budget

The most difficult part of a budget is to START creating one.
It is similar to exposing yourself and revealing your vulnerabilities.

A basic worksheet can help you organize everything.
This basic budget worksheet has the most common categories and can really help you track your

• expenses,
• income, and
• profit

in an orderly fashion.

Follow a Budget

You can master the setup of a good budget but the key to real success is in actually FOLLOWING it!

I had to force myself into creating a habit of updating my budget weekly, today I do it daily and some days I can’t even remember I did it.

Good habits bring good results.

By taking a multi-step approach and doing things in the right order can assist in achieving great results.

Overspending can easily be the death-trap of your budget.

In an age where everything is easily accessible simply by a swipe, scan, or tap, we all fall short in keeping track of the amounts we spend against our fixed amounts budgeted.

Specials and Sales are my worst temptations and I had to learn how to change my mindset about falling for these marketing strategies because this is all it is, strategies!

It is seldom that I can find a special that was a real special [in value] or an item on sale that I could not find elsewhere for the same price or even cheaper…

Keep your eyes open and your wallet closed!

BEFORE YOU BUDGET:

Believe in the process!
Know that you are never too poor to budget!
Decide what your goal is with your budget!

HERE IS A MULTI-STEP APPROACH TO HELP START A BASIC BUDGET FOR ENTREPRENEURS:

#1 Setup your Budget

1. Decide on the sacrifices you will make in order to reach your profit goals
2. Make a list of your expected expenses (fixed ones)
3. Categorize your Adhoc expected expenses (annual/periodical)
4. List unexpected expenses but which occurred during the past 12 months
5. Gather all your income (fixed, Adhoc & projected (bonus/increases/commissions)
6. Include the profit goals you want to reach
7. Remember to add a savings habit – automation can help with this as we sometimes forget to save a % of our Income

#TIP: Use a basic spreadsheet/worksheet to start and adjust it as you get more comfortable with your budget

#2 Track your Budget

This is the difficult part – the part where most people fail…
It is time-consuming and sometimes disappointing to

• track daily transactions,
• allocate them to the correct categories, and
• then compare them to your budgeted amounts

Fortunately, there are several apps, software packages, etc that can assist with these processes automatically.

I recommend these apps for quick, user-friendly budgets:

1. Mint – created by Intuit, the same Company that created QuickBooks
2. Pocketguard – easy, control and save automatically
3. YNAB – You Need A Budget – a hip and culturally current app

The most important is to ensure your expenses never exceed your income!

#TIP: Try to review your budget daily for at least 21 days – this will soon become your next good money habit.

#3 Evaluate your Budget

After your first month, you need to

• evaluate/compare your budget – your budgeted amounts with actual figures
• Identify your budget weaknesses and where you went wrong in under-budgeting or overspending
• Make the necessary adjustments for the next period

#TIP: From this first month forward try to cut a % of your expenses so it can be allocated to reaching your profit goals.

#4 Set your Goals

Just as you review your budget, you need to constantly review your profit & growth goals.
By allocating a % of spending to goal-reaching, you soon will master this savings habit and then you can aim to set higher goals.

#TIP: Your savings habits will contribute to reaching your profit goals realistically

 -Remember-

*ONE STEP AT A TIME*

the key to creating & keeping good habits!

A sound financial plan, budget or profit predictions can help you determine your next goals.

Setting up a Tax-Free Savings Account can assist with reaching your goals such as investing for your child’s education, that second honeymoon, or even your next adventure.

Keep moving forward,

even if it feels and looks very slow…

keep your eyes focused on your end goals

#5 Cut your Spending

I know, everyone tells you this, you read it probably all the time, but you ignore it.
This is and was my greatest obstacle in following my budget.

#TIP: Instant gratification makes it a lot more difficult today to cut on spending, especially lately where everything is available online – so limit your access to online payment methods and when you go out shopping, keep only one card with a limit in line with your spending budget

Find some of the tips that help me to ensure I make better spending choices:

• Shop around
• Compare prices with similar retailers and suppliers
• Determine, before you spend, if the spending is
  • a necessity or
  • a desire and
  • for how long you can actually go without buying it
• Review your monthly fixed expenses such as
  • insurances,
  • service fees, and
  • subscriptions at least annually
• Practice an attitude of gratitude before making any buying decision
• Look out for retailers that offer
  • loyalty cards,
  • cashback, and
  • rewards, these are fantastic ways to get money back into your pocket

As an entrepreneur or business owner, you should know the importance of knowing your numbers.

Hopefully these basic budgeting tips brought some insights to help you get your business budget on track for growth and reaching profit goals realistically.

If you are ready to learn more about predicting your future profits by using financial strategies, you are invited to JOIN my business membership, the B.O.S.S Society, where I teach all the ways you can start a successful online business, implement effective income strategies and learn how to build profitable funnels.

I also created a 6-Step Framework to help you create a game plan for your business.

See you online!

In this blog post I share 6 Bookkeeping Tips for Adequate Record Keeping and ways to enjoy Guaranteed Business Growth. Being a small business owner or entrepreneur, managing your business should not be an overwhelming task. With so many business tools, software applications and solutions available today, business bookkeeping is becoming the easiest part of running a successful business.

As a business owner, it is important to keep adequate records of the following business transactions:

• Business Incorporation Registration and Setup documents
• A list of all Financial Institution Accounts:
  • Bank Accounts,
  • Investment Accounts,
  • Savings Accounts,
  • Retirement Funds,
  • Medical Funds and
  • Taxation Accounts
• The Business Plan with clear financial details such as:
  • Cash Flow Forecasts,
  • Assets,
  • Liabilities,
  • Projected Income,
  • Estimated Expenses,
  • Marketing Strategy,
  • Marketing Research,
  • Core Values,
  • Vision and Mission Statements
• Human Resources and Payroll Records:
  • Employment Records,
  • Key individual details
  • Temporary Staff details
  • Contracts and Agreements
  • Leave Records
  • Attendance Records
  • Overtime Records
  • Payment Records
  • Statutory Records
• Privacy Policy
• Company Values
• Health and Safety Policy
• Lists of all Customers and potential Customers
• List of all Suppliers and Trade Accounts
• Assets purchased, sold and depreciated
• Trade and Receivables, Debtor Accounts and Loans Receivable
• Liabilities such as:
  • Loan Accounts,
  • Credit Card Accounts,
  • Overdraft Facilities,
  • Staff Loans,
  • Supplier Accounts Payable
• Summary of all Income Received, Quotes Generated and Service Agreements
• Summary of all Expenses, Cost of Sales, Ad hoc payments, Taxation and Monthly Overheads

By retaining these business records, you fulfill the requirements of the national Tax Administration Act and satisfy SARS that you comply with all requirements regarding business record keeping.

About the Tax Administration Act

The Tax Administration Act requires the following business types to keep records:

A registered business that:

• filed any type of tax return
• submitted a tax return but has not yet complied
• is not required to submit a tax return, but has during the tax period,

1. received any income,
2. had a capital gain or capital loss, or
3. engaged in any activity that is subject to taxation
4. a business that would have had to submit a tax return if not for an exemption or threshold

How to preserve compliant and adequate business records:

Keep your records in the following ways:

• In its original form
• In the form, including electronic, prescribed by the Commissioner by public notice
• In the case of a request by a specific taxpayer to retain records or documents in a different but acceptable form, the form authorized by a senior SARS official
• In an orderly fashion
• In a safe place
• Open for inspection, audit, or investigation by SARS at all times

How long do you need to keep your records?

1. A business that has submitted a tax return needs to keep its records for a minimum of five years: counting from the date of submission of a return, until the last day of the period
2. A business that had to submit a tax return, but has not complied, needs to keep its records for a minimum of five years: After the end of the five-year period, indefinitely until submission of the return
3. A business that is not required to submit a tax return, but has during a tax period, received income, experienced a capital gain or loss, or engaged in any other activity that is subject to tax or would be subject to tax but for the application of a threshold or exemption, needs to keep its records for a minimum of five years or until the conclusion of the audit, whichever occurs first
4. A business that has lodged an objection or appeal against an assessment or decision under the Tax Administration Act exemption needs to keep its records for a minimum of five years, or until the disputed assessment or decision becomes final, whichever occurs first
5. A notified business that is aware that its records are subject to an audit or investigation needs to keep its records until the conclusion of the audit or the investigation

6 Tips for Adequate Record Keeping to avoid paying penalties

You can very easily lose a dispute with SARS simply because of inaccurate record keeping.

Make sure this NEVER happens to you!

Use the following 6 Tips for Adequate Record Keeping to avoid paying penalties…

Tip#1:

You can only claim deductions if you have valid proof of your actual deductions or expense.

ALL invoices issued to you can reduce your tax, so if you lose any of them you’ll end up paying more tax than you legally have to.

NB: Speak to a Registered Tax Practitioner for guidance on how to structure your business to remain tax compliant

Tip#2:

Make sure you claim ALL your Business deductions you’re entitled to.

Without valid Tax Invoices, you’ll easily overlook certain expenses that you’ve incurred.

NB: Keep a record of EVERY expense, EVEN if you’re not sure it’s tax-deductible.

Tip#3:

Determine the amounts you pay towards salaries or wages.

Keep proof such as wages in the form of

• wage registers,
• proof of payment,
• proof of employment,
• copies of identity documents of casual employees,
• acknowledgments of the receipt of payments and amounts {NB!}

If you keep all of this, you can claim all amounts paid for salaries and wages, ESPECIALLY casual wages and wages paid in cash.

Tip#4:

Make sure you can fully explain the amounts you declare in your tax returns.

SARS will question the accuracy of your declarations if you’re unable to support them with evidence. And if you can’t prove any deductions you’ve claimed, then SARS will question the validity of ALL your claims!

Tip#5:

Ensure you’re in a position to prove your declarations, as this will improve your relationship with SARS, leading to trust and a reduction in unnecessary queries from their side, saving time performing audits.

Tip#6:

If you keep adequate and accurate records, your business will run smoothly, and be easier to manage in the long run.

How Business Record Keeping contributes to Guaranteed Business Growth?

Your business growth is directly linked to your net profits.

When your business profits are calculated for tax purposes, certain business expenses can be claimed to reduce your profit. Reduced profits means reduced taxes.

If adequate record keeping is in place for your business, it is easy to identify claimable expenses.

Once your business financials are drafted and calculated for tax purposes, your business might be audited and proof of these business expenses are to be submitted.

If you cannot provide proof of business expenses in the form of the above records, your claims might be disallowed and this can result in an increased calculated net profit.

Taxation payable on this profit is also then increased. Additional penalties and interests can be added to the calculated net profit due to incorrect provisional estimates submitted.

All these additional taxes, penalties and interests have a direct impact on your business profit for the next financial year. It becomes a viscous circle and will end up depleting all your business profits.

To ensure you enjoy guaranteed business growth, it is vital for your business to implement proper record keeping principles from the start.

When you are ready to take the first step implementing proper record keeping for your business, schedule a FREE discovery session to help you implement solutions for guaranteed business growth. During this session you will also get a feel of what it is to work with a Virtual Accountant and how I help to determine your next steps in your business.

Because I am a heart-centered entrepreneur, passionate about helping other entrepreneurs build profitable online businesses, I created a 6-Step Roadmap to more clients, cash and confidence.

You can grab this free training here.

See you online!

After reading this post, you will gain more clarity on the entrepreneurs’ journey to thriving.

I share with you how to identify what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and how to build a profitable business, online or in person.

If you are serious about the success of your business, you need to understand the different parts of your entrepreneurial JOURNEY.

The most successful people are invariably those people who spend the most time thinking about who they are and where they are going, and then constantly evaluating and re-evaluating their progress in light of who they are and what they really want.

How do entrepreneurs find success in a journey to thriving?

Some people spend their entire lives wondering how to be successful in life, but never figure it out.

Would you be surprised to find out that the secret really comes down to four key areas?

You see, personal success is achievable for anyone who practices these four areas – or keys to success as I call them.

Everyone wants personal success and to learn the keys to success.

Most entrepreneurs and inspired business owners wants to have a happy, healthy life. Doing meaningful work, enjoy a career, and achieve financial independence. Most people want to make a difference in the world, to be significant, to have a positive impact.

If you are a goal orientated person, you want to do something wonderful with your life, right?

Over and over, I have found that the keys to success are a single piece of information, a single idea at the right time, that can change your life in the right situation. I have also learned that the great truths are simple.

If you can follow these tips, you will be able to take control of your life and achieve your end goals.

REMEMBER: We all have ONE common goal!

Luckily for most entrepreneurs, personal success is not a matter of background, intelligence, or native ability. It’s not our family, friends, or contacts who enable us to do extraordinary things. Instead, the keys to success in life are our ability to get the very best out of ourselves under almost all conditions and circumstances.

Personal Success is your ability to adapt and change your life.

You have within you, right now, deep reserves of potential and ability. If properly harnessed and channeled, will enable you to accomplish extraordinary things with your life.

The FOUR Keys to the entrepreneurs’ journey to thriving

The great keys to success to change your life have always been the same.

• Decide exactly what you want and where you want to go.
• Set a deadline and make a plan to get there. (Remember, a goal is just a dream with a deadline.)
• Take action on your plan; do something every day to move toward your goal.
• Resolve in advance that you will persist until you succeed, that you will never, ever give up.

This formula is your key to success and has worked for almost everyone who has ever tried it.

It will require the very most you can give and the best qualities you can develop. In developing and following these keys to personal success, you will evolve and grow to become an extraordinary person.

TIP: Learn How To Be Successful From The Experts

You will not live long enough to figure it all out for yourself. And what a waste it would be to try, when you can learn from others who have gone before.

In one of many great quotes, Ben Franklin said,

“Men can either buy their wisdom or they can borrow it from others. The great tragedy is that most men prefer to buy it, to pay full price in terms of time and treasure.”

Ben Franklin

Your greatest goal in life and in personal success should be to acquire as many of them as possible and then use them to help you do the things you want to do and become the person you want to become.

Program Yourself For a Journey to Thriving

You will change your life by achieving just one important goal, you create a pattern, a template for personal success in your subconscious mind. You will change your life and be automatically directed, and driven toward repeating that success in other things that you attempt.

By overcoming adversity and achieving one great goal in any area, you will program yourself for success in other areas as well. In other words, you learn to succeed by succeeding.

The more you achieve, the more you can achieve. Each of the keys to success, especially the first one, builds your confidence and belief that you will be successful next time and achieve ultimate personal success.

Try to leverage your momentum from an achievement in your personal success to reach a goal in your career or in your business. Eventually, you will create a synergistic effect and find that success comes easier on all fronts.

Unlimited Potential

The only real limits on what you can do, have, or be are self-imposed.

Once you make a clear, unequivocal decision to change your life by casting off all your mental limitations and throw your whole heart into the accomplishment of some great goal, your ultimate success is guaranteed, as long as you don’t stop.

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Thriving Entrepreneur?

Successful entrepreneurs have the potential to radically improve the world on multiple fronts.

Not only can they meet economic needs and please customers, but they can also help their employees achieve their full potential.

If you dream of making a difference in this way, you just might enjoy a journey to thriving entrepreneurship.

Understanding the entrepreneurs’ journey to thriving assists with a clear path to success.

Mapping out your business game plan and defining the right path to reach success goals in your business is vital.

Knowing what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur makes the journey so much easier.

To know what it takes to be a thriving entrepreneur, let’s look at what you need to be successful:

1. Have A Passion For What You Do

One of the most important elements of successful entrepreneurship is loving what you do. This means not just a love for doing business, but also a passion for your specific field. Not only does loving your work make it easier to carry out your daily duties, but it can make those actions seem like they aren’t even duties at all. You are likely to spend your free time brushing up your skills or thinking of ways to attract more clients. Those who love what they do are also more likely to deal with failure constructively, learning how to do better rather than getting discouraged.

2. Take Actionable Steps forward

Effective entrepreneurs spend every moment of their time taking productive actions. They constantly look for opportunities to enhance their business and act decisively whenever they find one. Constant action doesn’t mean deciding without thinking; careful thought, after all, is a necessary action in business. What it means is remaining productive at all times, so that all you do contributes to your goals.

3. Consistently Set And Achieve Goals

Successful entrepreneurs regularly define their business goals and come up with detailed plans to achieve them. This allows them to focus their actions toward a consistent, positive outcome for the company. A penchant for planning means you will always have a clear sense of what to do next, and can better assess individual decisions based on how they fit into your broader strategy.

If you’re not used to setting goals, try setting SMART goals.

4. Choose to be Adjustable And Flexible

As important as it is to make plans, commitment to a long-term vision or strategy should not come at the expense of flexibility. Sooner or later, something will happen that you did not expect, and you will have to respond to it without hesitating. A successful entrepreneur is able to adjust plans when they prove impractical, quickly making the changes necessary to deal with any new development.

5. Be Truthful And Honest

Honesty is not just a moral virtue; it is also a practical necessity in the business world. Employees, suppliers, customers, and regulators all have to know that they can trust you. If they learn that you misrepresented yourself, they will refuse to cooperate with you, dooming your business. You have to have a reputation for honesty and integrity, and there is no reliable way to secure that reputation other than by actually being honest.

6. Show Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is indispensable in the business world. Your own emotions can easily get in the way of decision-making, causing you to view an incorrect choice positively or overlook a correct one. It is also important to be sensitive to your employees’ emotions, understanding how your decisions impact them and striving to keep them happy and healthy.

By following these steps, your success as an entrepreneur is virtually assured.

This is HOW I help Entrepreneurs on a Journey to Thriving

My solution for an Entrepreneur’s Journey to thriving in business includes 3 key points:

1. Your Business Compass
2. A clear Business Game Plan (Action Plan)
3. 4 Types of Support

When you understand these 3 key points, it is time to put strategy, solutions, systems, and support into place to ensure you reach your planned destination.

#1 KEY POINT: Using a C.O.M.P.A.S.S to direct you onto the right path

Your Business C.O.M.P.A.S.S

C = Clarity & Confidence

O = Offer

M = Mission Statement

P = Purpose

A = Audience

S = Sales

S = Systems

Clarity

Getting clarity on your WHY will help you build personal confidence. Clarity is also necessary to understand the reasons behind chasing certain success goals in life and in business.

Offer

No entrepreneur can build a profitable business without an offer that fills a need and that people are willing to pay for. Crafting a profitable offer is key to understanding what success path is best for your business.

Mission

Writing your business mission and vision statement will help understand the timeline for certain success goals. A business mission statement keeps everyone aligned to implementing actionable steps to achieving goals.

Purpose

Discovering your purpose for your business will enable you to keep pushing through hard times. Struggles, complications and challenges can destroy any business. Having a clear purpose can help staying focused on the end goals through difficult times.

Audience

Your business needs people. People pays for convenience and skill. If you help a specific group of people getting a certain result, your business focus is to attract those people to buy from you. Part of developing your business compass is finding your ideal clients in a sea of crowds. Attracting your ideal audience requires strategic processes.

Sales

No business is profitable without sales, otherwise its a hubby or a side hustle. Your business needs a sales strategy to deliver your offer to your ideal audience that aligns with your business mission and purpose. Creating your “elevator pitch” enables you to clearly articulate what you do, who you help and how you do it.

Systems

Every business, no matter the type or model, requires systems to run efficiently. This area is required to define the business model you require to deliver your profitable offer to your audience.

Once the systems and platforms are in place, your business compass can direct you to the right success path for a journey to thriving.

#2 KEY POINT: Mapping out your business GAME PLAN for a journey to thriving

Your 6-Step Business Game Plan

Step 1 : YOUR PLAN

Focus: Clarity & Confidence
Challenge: Brainstorm Ideas, Validate & Start

Most entrepreneurs are not looking to sacrifice their health, happiness, and tranquility as they hustle to build their business. The secret to surviving the start-up stage is finding clarity.

Understanding your WHY is vital for success.
Remember – clarity comes from taking action, not in the waiting.

The faster you can depart and START your journey, the faster you will receive confirmation if your business idea is valid and understanding the best business model to drive your business vehicle to your success stage. Designing your offers that will realize your business success goals are imperative to move forward.

New aspired entrepreneurs will find great benefits from my Departure Package that helps with this stage of mapping out their business game plan.

Step 2:

Focus: Mission & Persona
Challenge: Discover, Design & Develop

At this stage, you have gained clarity about your Business model, and you are now understanding the processes required to create a mission and vision statement that aligns with your business purpose.

As your Business is growing, you need to develop your brand and position yourself as the “go-to” resource in your market. This will help your business to fully remain purposeful, profitable and to pivot.

Entrepreneurs will find great benefits from my Cruising Package that helps with this stage of discovering and developing processes to assist with their day-to-day running of their business.

Step 3:

Focus: Audience & Platforms
Challenge: Attract, Nurture & Sell

Entrepreneurs love talking about achieving their goals but too often rush into rapid growth strategies without a strong foundation to support their business.

Attracting your ideal audience, using a front-end website and back-end email marketing platform to nurture them through a sales funnel into a buying stage requires strategic planning.

Your business is as successful as your offers that turns followers into buyers.

Entrepreneurs will find great benefits from my Accelerator Package that helps attract and nurture their ideal audience to become regular paying clients.

Step 4:

Focus: Offers & Purpose
Challenge: Predict, Price & Profit

Your offerings are the one unique thing that will ensure your online business idea turns into profits.

What is Essential to sustainable business growth?

It is a mindset shift from solo entrepreneur to a true CEO who is focused on systematizing offerings, automating marketing processes, and business operations so you can deliver an incredible experience as you serve your clients with innovative systems and solutions.

This not only ensures freedom but assists with creating a solid foundation for a future proof recurring passive income stream.

Entrepreneurs will find great benefits from my Thrive Coaching Package that helps design profitable offers that can turn into recurring passive income streams.

Step 5:

Focus: Promotions & Content
Challenge: Consistency, Promote & Improve

CONTENT is KING!

Leveraging your content in a way that drives traffic & conversions and helps you become the authority in your space is a vital strategy.

Content creation should be done consistently, strategically and intentionally so it aligns with your marketing and brand goals. Promoting your offers through a strategic content strategy will help you to get to understand your audience. Quality content is the focus to help you stay consistent, promote your offers and improve your delivery.

Entrepreneurs will find great benefits from my Thrive Coaching Package that helps design a strategic content creation plan that aligns with brand and marketing goals.

Step 6:

Focus: Systems & Automation
Challenge: Set up, Systematize & Scale

A sales system is a vital part of building a successful online business.

Using my Triple S Funnel Hack formula will help you to implement a sales funnel with key parts to help you generate more sales, align all your strategies and get access to solutions to help with the flow of processes.

Automation helps to manage all your sales efforts and track your profits without wasting resources.

The key to innovation is the right support. A person who understands your business, frustrations, challenges, and limitations almost better than you yourself.

Finding this support is part of the journey…

Entrepreneurs will find great benefits from my Thrive Coaching Package where I teach my 1-2-3 Profit Method for getting recurring profits on autopilot.

#3 KEY POINT: Finding the right SUPPORT for your business

Here are 4 TYPES of Support to help you

1 : BUSINESS BUILDING STRATEGIST

Business strategists help identify new opportunities for their organization and then develop the goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics (plans) required to achieve them. This involves evaluating existing strategies and exploring new ones to uncover areas for improvement.

You can benefit from a Business Building Strategist if you are in any stage of your business journey.

2 : MONEY MINDSET COACH

Your money mindset is your unique set of beliefs and your attitude about money. It drives the decisions you make about saving, spending and handling money. 

Traditional life coaching focuses on structured strategies to help you reach a specific goal or goals, while a mindset coach focuses almost exclusively on a your inner thoughts, self-beliefs and behavioral patterns. Money Mindset Coaches help with clarifying financial goals, adapting success habits and changing mindset beliefs around money mastery.

3 : BUSINESS ADVISOR

Also known as business consultants, business advisors are responsible for planning and executing business strategies to improve efficiency in the operational and financial management of businesses. They prepare budgets, advise on projects and marketing, and perform risk analysis.

Most businesses recognize the role of a business advisor as critical to their economic and internal activities.

4 : VIRTUAL ACCOUNTANT

Virtual accountants compile and verify financial transactions and ensure that their clients are financially efficient as well as compliant with lawful business practices. Instead of working in the office, virtual accountants work from home or in another location outside of the office.

Any business can benefit from a Virtual Accountant to help with implementing financial systems, processing and recording of transactions while keeping businesses compliant.

You now have a solid foundation and clear understanding of all the different parts of an entrepreneurs’ journey to thriving. Being able to identify how to become a successful thriving entrepreneur and how I can help you with your business journey through my 3 key point strategy will empower you.

Join my FREE Facebook Group, PROFITABLE ONLINE CREATIVES, for a community of Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners to further help, support, and empower you on your journey to thriving!

See you online!

In this blog post, I share the 7 Things people don’t tell you about starting a business.

The first one no one talks about is our expectations!

“Expectation is the root of all heartache” – William Shakespeare

Although, preparation is the key to breakthrough!

If you expect a certain outcome from your efforts, but you do not prepare for it, you might as well expect heartache and disappointment to be the outcome.

Early on in my business journey I learned, there is a lot of stuff I did not know. Things I never even thought about and things no one ever told me about starting a business. It took me much longer, with many disappointments and heartache. I made many mistakes and endured many failures.

But I did realize things can be different, it did not have to be this way for others.

Fortunately, now years later, I know the key elements to starting a business.

Planning and preparation empowers our expectations so the outcomes are positive.

Since starting my first business more than 16 years ago, I learned a lot and I am sure to keep learning.

That is why I decided to share the 7 things people did not tell me about starting my business.

(don’t worry – it’s not all negative!)

1. Starting your business might not be a success

We became entrepreneurs to make money, gain more freedom, and enjoy the luxurious things in life.

When starting a business, be prepared to make very little to no money in the beginning. Even be prepared to lose money after you factor in startup costs. Knowing this ahead of time is going to help you get through the initial rough patch and actually give you a chance to succeed.

Allow yourself at least 3 years to break even.

That being said, not all ideas are money-making ones.

Sometimes, the success of starting your business comes down to

• the timing of your business launch (you may be too early or too late),
• current demand in the market, or
• stumbling blocks

Or, you may not be able to give this particular business the attention it deserves to make it work.

Validating your business idea is essential and an exercise you need to do before starting the launch of your business. Then crafting a proper Business Plan will help with starting a successful business.

2. It might be necessary to tweak your business idea

In order for your business to be successful, you might need to choose the following first:

• Choosing the correct business model,
• Finding the right pricing, and
• Deciding on the right target market that matches your resources and goals are all VITAL decisions to make to run a successful Business.

If you don’t have a ton of capital to work with, going with a brick and mortar business model with lots of overheads will pretty much be setting yourself up for failure.

But perhaps that same service or product could have been sold differently?

Or priced and marketed to a higher-income level demographic?

If you can’t get an idea out of your head and you just know it will work (even if it’s already failed!) don’t give up just yet.

Thomas Edison failed ONE THOUSAND times before making the light bulb work.

These three quotes from him sum up this section perfectly:

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work”

Thomas edison

You may think, “Well I’m not Edison.”

But even if you tried an idea a fraction of the times he did, you’d be way ahead of all the people who stopped as soon as they failed.

Do you want to make your Business idea successful?

Put in the work to make it happen and don’t EVER give up!

Find ways to do things differently and learn from those who have done it before you.

I am still learning from others!

3. You need to measure your business success and business failures

I quickly learned that if I do not find ways to measure my success, I cannot determine if my efforts were bearing fruit.

Learn to ask yourself TWO important questions:

• Am I doing something to help others?
• Can I manage to pay myself a reasonable income?

When starting out, you might not be earning a decent personal salary, but if you’ve been at it for a while (years) and you’re still not able to turn a decent profit, you may have a hobby on your hands – not a Business.

One VITAL thing to remember:

” SALES are just the revenue you bring in “

The profitability (and success) of a business is determined by what’s left after you deduct all expenses and costs to perform the services or make the products (materials, labor, overhead, marketing costs, etc.)

Many of those just starting out may factor in the obvious stuff like costs of materials, but it’s the little things that can add up and kill your profit margin.

Don’t underestimate the impact part as well – if you are helping others and making a difference, that is important. But if you have to make a living too, you may have to change course to make it worth the effort.

One of the 7 Things people don’t tell you about starting a business is the importance of tracking your efforts.

Don’t miss this important step!

4. Passion is the KEY element!

Entrepreneurial fatigue is a very real thing, and it happens to people incredibly passionate about what they do.

So imagine how quickly you’d burn out and be run down working at something tirelessly (sometimes without pay) that you’re not at all passionate about.

Passion is VITAL in a any business!

Running a Business takes perseverance, endurance, and dedication.

Passion leads to joy and if you can’t be super passionate about your Business Idea, then focus on the impact and the other benefits that having a business provides, such as freedom and flexibility.

How you start turning your ideas into a business requires a great deal of passion!

This is probably the most vital thing you need and people don’t tell you about it before starting a business!

5. Be willing to adapt

Starting your own Business is a great way to monitor ambition.

Lately, anyone can come from knowing nothing and be wildly successful (just take a look at most of the sharks on Shark Tank), or you can be born with a silver spoon in your mouth and fail miserably.

Money won’t make people buy your products if you don’t know how to interact and engage with your clients. 500 Business classes are not going to prepare you for the day to day situations you’ll face in your specific business.

It’s a theory – not real-life challenges.

We are fortunate to be living in the age of information, where a kid can upload a video to YouTube and be a millionaire pop star a year later.

All the information you need to run a successful Business is out there, as well as access to various Business coaches and other support from entrepreneurs and business owners who achieved their goals.

Many entrepreneurs make the excuse that they’re unqualified or won’t be taken seriously because they are bootstrapping and don’t have much experience.

I was stuck here for way too long!

You may be in a better position than those who come into a business thinking they know everything and throwing a bunch of money at it (a great book on this is “The Power of Broke” by Daymond John).

They have an ego and false sense of confidence that will likely get them in trouble, if not immediately.

Business is about providing a service or product that people want.

NOT what you think they want.

Choose to be a good listener, willing to take feedback (negative and positive), and adapt your ways to think beyond just profits, then your target audience will be putting their money on YOU!

By selling an experience, rather than a product, will help you to turn those ideas into profitable products.

6. Perfect the Basics of Business

Most Business Owners and Entrepreneurs think if they just get more people in the door or more leads, or if they had more money to advertise that everything would explode.

But the fact is, all the money in the world won’t help if your business is broken.

Things like:

• Poor customer/client service,
• Spending money on the wrong tactics, or
• Developing products without sound research and feedback are just a few examples of doing things incorrectly and this will hurt your Business

Developing a sound business first, then promote it.

Your Business Plan should explain these pillars:

• The basic foundations,
• Company Core Values,
• Business Basic Principles

so you will not need to, in 10 years, turn around and go back to change your basics.

You will want to do it right, from the first go.

Understanding your foundations and building cornerstone pillars in your business will help you eliminate future setbacks.

7. Your Business Breakthrough might not feel like one

Going back to William Shakespeare’s’ quote

“Expectation is the root of all heartache”,

William shakespeare

I can explain why this hits home.

No one ever told me that not everyone is going to love what I have to offer or how I offer it.

I also had expectations from people that did not deliver.

The fact is, not everyone is nice about telling you so.

For the haters, it often comes from a place of jealousy and insecurity. They don’t dare to do what you’re doing so they want to bring you down to their level.

If it’s family or friends, they often don’t understand your reasons and they don’t want to be left behind.

To succeed when starting a business, you’re going to have to accept that this may happen.

Learn how to tune it out and do what you do, and keep pursuing the way how you want to do it.

When you are close to your breakthrough, it hardly ever feels great, positive, or even like a breakthrough.

It might feel like you are alone, unsure if your decisions are good ones or it might even feel like you are not moving forward at all.

Breakthrough is sometimes just around the corner of giving up. So choose to believe in it, and it will reveal itself!

Fear is the major reason people never get their business started.

Only recently I realized how often I choose to wear the shoes of Fear:

• Fear of criticism,
• Fear of failure,
• Fear of rejection,
• Fear of missing out on the next new and the best thing
• Fear of being left out

We all like a safe space where everything is stable and predictable.

If you haven’t figured it out already, running your own business can often always be the opposite of that.

But I do promise you, it is definitely not boring! And very, very rewarding both personally and professionally.

There are a million quotes about why you should chase your dream, take the risk, be courageous, and do what you feel you are called to do.

But the truth is, Entrepreneurship is not for everyone!

These 7 Things people don’t tell you about starting a business can really make a huge impact for your growing a successful business.

The purpose of this post is to keep it real and give you a little preview of what it’s like starting a business – the good,  the difficult, and the reward!

I truly hope after reading this, you will still choose to charge ahead!

The world needs YOU and what YOU have to offer!

Are you ready to start your business?

Join my business membership, the B.O.S.S Society, where I teach all the ways you can start a successful online business, implement effective income strategies and learn how to build profitable funnels.

I also created a 6-Step Framework to help you create a game plan for your business.

See you online!

In this blog post, I share the vital differences between Bookkeepers and Accountants for continued growth.

As a business owner or entrepreneur, you definitely benefit from understanding these vital differences between Bookkeepers and Accountants.

We all need help to grow our businesses into successful, profitable giants. But if we don’t understand the type of support we need, how are we able to choose the right support?

Professional Support Your Business Needs

The title of your support team member should align with the actual requirements, roll and purpose they have in your business.

Different TITLES and how they contribute to your business success:

• Bookkeeper,
• Accountant,
• Tax Consultant{Practitioner},
• Business Coach/Advisor

Do you know and understand the real difference between these four titles and how each Professional can contribute to your business’ growth?

If you’re like many Business owners, you might never think of why you need to understand the difference between these Professionals.

This lead to hiring mistakes and people investing money in Professional help they don’t actually need or help they are not ready for within their Business. Both of which lead to money wasted and often a resistance to hiring ever again.

Vital differences between Bookkeepers and Accountants starts by identifying two types of support you can outsource or hire in your Business. How each one provides value when utilized at the right time and help you make informative decisions.

You can also read these articles about the key principles of a Tax Consultant{Practitioner} and Business Advisor/Coach for further help in deciding what type of professional support your Business requires.

Vital Differences between Bookkeepers & Accountants

It is important to understand when you should hire or outsource each type of support in your business, and when it’s okay to combine these professional roles.

Outsourcing each professional in the wrong order is like putting the cart before the horse

Bookkeepers are needed when:

You could use help keeping your books processed and balanced.

For example, your business may be growing too fast for you to do your own bookkeeping.

If you have room in your budget, you might consider hiring a bookkeeper so you can focus on profit-making responsibilities.

Choosing to hire a Bookkeeper as an employee or as an Independent Contractor is determined by:

• the type of Business you have,

• your day-to-day requirements, and

• how you would like to invest in resources

Accountants are needed when:

• You must make sense of your financial information
• Someone who understands profitability, cash flow, and financial planning are needed
• An accountant can advise you on the most financially savvy moves you can make based on your history
• Your year-end business tax planning and filing need the eyes of an expert
• An Accountant is needed periodically, it makes better sense to outsource this expert service to an Independent Consultant on terms that will assist your Business to benefit from it

While bookkeeping and accounting differ, they have overlapping functions. Both play an important role in informing you about your business’s health and projecting future outcomes.

• Bookkeeping is the foundation of your finances
• Accounting takes care of higher-level processing
  • For example, let’s say you offer a coupon to your customers:
    • You use bookkeeping to record how many coupons are used
    • You use accounting to look at how the coupons affect your finances and the health of your business

As a business owner and entrepreneur, you can record your books with a do-it-yourself approach. If you decide to use a financial professional, make sure you hire someone with credentials that match your needs.

The more complex your financial situation is, the more likely you will need an Accountant.

Need a Bookkeeper or Accountant to assist your business with continued growth?

Take the Next Steps if you are:

• overwhelmed by your processing and work and ready to hire or outsource help

• stuck in the cycle of having enough work to be successful but not enough time to serve all your clients AND grow your business

• Ready for help, but you’re not sure what help is worth your investment

• in need of the three-part method for finding the right team member who will save you time and earn you more by getting the right work off your plate

Then it is time for a FREE Discovery session with me!

Reach out to me for a FREE discovery session so we can find you the best solution within your budget.

You are invited to join my FREE Facebook Group, PROFITABLE ONLINE CREATIVES, for a community of creatives, entrepreneurs, and business owners to help, support, and empower each other!

See you online!